Damascus Pentateuch with Masorah

Masoretes

ca. 1000

This image shows a leaf from the Damascus Pentateuch, with the Masorah in the margins. The Damascus Pentateuch is an incomplete Bible codex written around 1000 CE. This is the first page, which starts with Genesis 9:26. 

The Masorah (tradition) refers to notes transmitted in the margins of the written volumes of the Hebrew Bible that are intended to preserve the integrity of the biblical text. The text of the Bible, consisting of only consonants, is thought to have been standardized around 100 CE. The earliest definitive evidence of Jewish use of the codex format (a book with pages as opposed to a scroll), which allowed more room for marginal notes, comes from the early eighth century. Of the three main Masorah traditions—Tiberian, Palestinian, and Babylonian—the Tiberian eventually became the standard. 

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Credits

From the National Library Collection, The National Library of Israel, Jerusalem, MS Heb. 24°5702.

Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 3: Encountering Christianity and Islam.

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